Former IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay has been confirmed as the third driver for Visit Florida Racing’s endurance campaign in next year’s IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.
The 2014 Indy 500 winner will partner Marc Goossens and Ryan Dalziel in the team’s Corvette Daytona Prototype at four events next season, starting with January’s Daytona 24 Hours.
Hunter-Reay, who has 28 IMSA starts to his name, will then join the team for the 12 Hours of Sebring in March and the season-ending Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta.
He is also set to perform double duty at the Long Beach Grand Prix in April, standing in for Dalziel who will be honouring FIA World Endurance Championship commitments that weekend.
“This is an incredible opportunity to join Visit Florida Racing at the top of their game with such an outstanding driver lineup in Marc and Ryan,” said Hunter-Reay. “I believe we have a strong shot at winning the big endurance races and I’m also looking forward to the double duty challenge at Long Beach, which is one my favorite race tracks.”
“The atmosphere and approach from within the Visit Florida Racing team seems to be a great fit for me and there are lots of very talented people there who are hungry for more wins. I’ve worked, and shared success, with both Marc and Ryan in the past so we’re going to be able to shortcut the process and get to work immediately on car setup.”
“Ryan is a phenomenal talent, and with us wanting to have our long-distance guy also be our Long Beach guy, he was a perfect fit so we’re really happy,” added team owner Troy Flis. “We know he can just get in the car and get on with it, and of course he’s worked with Marc and Ryan in the past so that will only add to our ability to be strong as a team.”
Hunter-Reay will participate in the annual Roar Before the Rolex 24 test at Daytona International Speedway on January 8-10, three weeks before the Daytona 24 Hours.
